Tool for removing covering material from a cable

ABSTRACT

A tool to be rotated around an electrically conductive cable equipped with means to center the cable therein and means for removing coating materials on the cable.

United States Ptent [1 1 Horrocks Mar. 11, 1975 3,601,891 8/1971 Destito....................,....,.. ....30/901 3,620,104 11/1971 Horrocks.................'....... ..8l/9.5C

[ TOOL FOR REMOVING COVERING MATERIAL FROM A CABLE [75] Inventor: Raymond G. Horrocks, Parkview,

Ohio

[73] Assignee: The Scott & Fetzer Company,

Primary Examiner-Al Lawrence Smith Assistant ExaminerRoscoe V. Parker Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Watts, Hoffmann, Fisher & Heinke Co.

Cleveland, Ohio June 14, 1973 Appl. No.: 370,000

[22] Filed:

ABSTRACT A tool to be rotated around an electrically conductive cable equipped with means to center the cable therein and means for removing coating materials on the cable.

1.2.1 0H0 919 l U o 323 ,0; JHC 0 m 0 m 3 R mu WW8 mh C r. "3 2 "ms .l C M smkm n IlF 12 1.1 218 555 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures 3,398,610 8/1968 Matthews,.......,......,........,.. 81/95 C TOOL FOR REMOVING COVERING MATERIAL FROM A CABLE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The prior art most nearly pertinent to the present invention and known to me are my US. Pat. Nos. 3,377,891, 3,548,690 and 3,620,104 and Matthews US. Pat. Nos. 3,204,495 and 3,398,610. Each of the tools of those patents was devised for the single purpose of square cutting through, and removing one or more of the layers of, semi-conducting and insulating material surrounding the core of an electrically conductive cable. None of those tools was capable of being used for the double purpose of first removing the outer insulating jacket and then square cutting those inner layers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings:

F i6. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of this invention assembled with a conventional cable;

FIG. 2 is a rear side elevational view, partly in section, of the tool of FiG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front side elevational view of the tool of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view, taken on line 4-4 of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a blade for removing jacket insulation and square cutting one or more layers of material around the cable;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an alternative fitting for causing relative movement of the cable and tool;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary edge view of the tool showing an end of a recess for a cutting blade taken on line 7--7 of FIG. 3;

FiG. 8 is a view similar to FiG. 2 but showing a modi- I fled tool; and

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken on line 9-9 of FIG. 8.

The embodiment of the present invention which is shown in FIGS. l-7 consists of a ring-shaped body 1 having an opening 3 for a cable 4 and provided with opposed handles 5 by which it may be rotated around the cable and jaws 7a, 7b and 7c projecting from the rear side of body 1. The cable shown consists of a metallic electrically conductive core 4a, a thin semi-conducting layer 4b surrounding core 4a, an insulating layer 40 around layer 4b, and a semi-conducting or outer layer 4d around layer 4c. Layers of metallic and other materials usually on such cables, having been removed, are not shown.

The jaws 7a, 7b and 7c are seated in recesses 9 in the ring extending radially of the opening 3 and are spaced apart from one another by 120. The jaws 7a and 7b (FIGS. l-4) are fixed in adjusted positions by cap screws 11 which are positioned in slots 13 of mg 1. Screws 11 are threaded into a bushing 12, which is threaded in a recess in the ring.

One of the jaws, 7c, is adjustably mounted in a housing 15 integral with the ring and is connected to an adjusting screw 17 which extends through the outer end of the housing and into flange 18 on the ring. Screw I7 is threaded in a bushing 20 which is threaded into the jaw. The outer end of the screw is provided with a knurled knob 19 which bears against the outer end of the housing 15 and by means of which the screw may be rotated and the jaw retracted or advanced. Spring 21 is partly compressed between washer 23 engaging the knob 19 and retainer 25 secured in flange 18. The spring urges screw 17 and jaw 7c inwardly and not only serves to press the jaw against a cable under a pressure which varies with extent of compression of the spring caused by the retraction of the screw but also accommodates cables which are out of round.

Preferably the two jaws 7a and 7b are adjusted to predetermined positions on the body 1. The scales 27 carry dimensions in fractions of inches on a half scale and are attached to the body. They serve for ready positioning of the adjacent jaws for use with cables of different diameters by the aligning of a mark (not shown) on the jaw with a selected dimension on the scale. These two jaws are adjusted to engage a cable in the opening 33 and the third jaw is adjusted by means of screw 17 to press the cable against the other two jaws and thus to locate the cable in body 1.

As is shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the inner ends of each of the jaws 7a, 7b and 7c is provided with two spaced apart, curved end surfaces 29. Each of these surfaces engages the outer surface of a cable over a substantial circumferential extent and, since they are spaced apart, they will engage the cable at longitudinally spaced places on the cable thereby conforming to a bent cable. It will be understood that if desired the inner ends of the jaws may be provided with plane surfaces instead of curved surfaces 29 in which case each jaw would make line contacts with the cable instead of curved surface contacts.

FIG. 4 shows one of the jaws, 7b, equipped with a block 31 slidably movable in a recess in the face of the jaw and urged inwardly toward the cable by a spring 33 in the jaw and adjusted in a predetermined position in the jaw in any suitable manner, for example, by stud 35 and knob 37 which has threaded engagement with the stud and pressed against a washer 39 between the knob and the outer face of the jaw. The inner or cableengaging surface of block 31 is provided with angular serrated grooves 41 which, when in engagement with the insulating jacket of a cable and when the tool is rotated, will cause relative axial movement of the cable and the tool. It will be understood that when the outer jacket has been removed from the cable, block 31 may be retracted into the jaw so that the grooved surface does not engage with the semi-conducting layer of the cable.

In lieu of block 31, other means may be used for causing relative movement of the tool and a cable, for example, as shown in FIG. 6 a bar 43 may be secured to the inner face of each of one or more of the jaws in any suitable manner as, for example, by counter sunk screws 45. Each bar is provided with portions near either end thereof having spiral or angular grooved faces 47 to engage the insulating jacket of a cable.

The front face of ring 1 is provided with recesses 9 for cutting blades 51. Blades 51 as shown in FIG. 5 consists of a thin flat body 53 having a thin flat flange 55 at one end and a slot 57 for locking screws 59.'One edge of blade 51 is beveled as shown at 530 and 55a at an included angle of from about 25 to about 35 with the bottom surface of body 53 and the outer surface of flange 55. This beveling produces two cutting edges 56 and 58 having a common end at 60. By way of example, the body 53 and flange 55 are quite thin, being about Vsinch thick and each is about 1 inch wide and the body is about 3 inches long. Blades of other dimensions may also be used.

Since the layers of cutting materials of the cable are of different radial thicknesses and the effort required to remove those various layers will vary somewhat with the thickness thereof, it is desirable so to mount the cutting blades 51 on the ring 1 that a greater width of material measured lengthwise of the cable may be removed when the material is thin and a smaller width of material measured lengthwise of the cable may be removed when the material is thick. The present invention makes it possible to achieve these objects by the expedient of properly positioning the blades on the ring. This positioning may be accomplished by providing recesses in the front face of the ring having bottom walls which make different small included angles with the front face of the ring and by shaping the leading edge of the flanges 55 of the tools so that the cutting edges will be substantially normal to the front face of the ring.

For example, when the thin outer jacket is to be removed the blade may be positioned in a recess 63 which has a bottom wall inclined at an included angle of about 3 with the front face of the ring 1, and the edge of flange 55 of that blade may be cut or ground back sufficiently for the edge 58 to be substantially normal to the front face of ring 1. These relative positions of the recess surface 63 of ring 1 and the leading edge 58 of flange 55 of the blade are shown in FiG. 7. There the surface 63 is inclined at an included angle of about 3 to the front face of ring 1 and the dotted line X indicates that the leading edge of the flange 55 of the blade was cut back about 3 to make it extend substantially normal to the front face of the ring.

Similarly when the layer of material to be removed is thicker and it is desired to reduce the effort which would otherwise be required to remove that material, the bottom wall of the blade-receiving recess will be inclined at an included angle of about l with the front face of the ring 1. In this case the leading edge of the flange 55 will be cut back about 1 to make that edge substantially normal to the front face of the ring.

It will be understood that initially two blades may be mounted in the two recesses with the blade which is to remove the outer jacket being in proper cutting position with respect to the cable and the other blade being positioned out of contact with the cable. After the thin jacket layer has been removed, that blade may be retracted so as not to engage the cable and the other blade which is to remove a thicker layer may be advanced into proper cutting position with respect to the cable.

An alternative form embodying the present invention is shown in FIGS. 8 and 9.'In FIG. 8 the ring la is provided with a central opening 3a, handles 5a and jaws 7d, 7e and 7f. These jaws are quite like jaws 7a, 7b and 7c and are preferably mounted on the body 1a after the manner shown in FIGS. 1-7. Each jaw is provided with a pair of cylindrical rollers 65 positioned near the inner end of the jaw and engageable with the outer surface of the cable. In this instance the rollers 65 make only line contacts with the cable and assure proper centering ofa cable with less force to the cable than when the jaws have the curved faces of FIGS. 1-4. This embodiment of the'invention is preferred when the jacket of the cable is hard.

Having thus described this invention in such full, clear, concise and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, and having set forth the best mode contemplated of carrying out this invention, I state that the subject matter which I regard as being my invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in what is claimed, it being understood that equivalents or modifications of, or substitutions for, parts of the above specifically described embodiment of the invention may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in what is claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. A tool of the class described comprising a ring shaped body having front and rear sides and an opening therethrough to receive a cable, jaws projecting from one side of said ring and extending radially relative to said opening to engage the outer surface of a cable therein, means securing certain of said jaws in predetermined fixed positions relative to said opening, means securing another of said jaws in adjusted position relative to said opening, and a blade projecting from and adjustably attached to one side of said ring and projecting into engagement with covering material on a cable in said opening.

2. The combination of elements set forth in claim 1 in which the jaws carry rollers near their inner ends to engage a cable in said opening.

3. The combination of elements set forth in claim 1 in which the ring is provided with a housing and a jaw is mounted therein for advancement into and retraction from engagement with a cable in said opening.

4. The combination of elements set forth in claim 1 in which the ring has a recess extending radially of the opening and having a bottom surface inclined at an included angle of not more than about 3 to the front face of the ring and a cutting blade is disposed in said recess with its bottom surface resting on the inclined surface of the recess and with its cutting edge being substantially normal to said face of the ring.

5. The combination of elements set forth in claim I in which the ring has two radially extending recesses with the bottom walls thereof being inclined, respectively, at included angles of about 1 and about 3 to the front face of the ring and cutting blades disposed in the recesses with their bottom surfaces engaging said inclined bottom surfaces of said recesses and with their cutting edges being substantially normal to said face of the ring.

6. The combination of elements set forth in claim 1 in which the said jaws project from the rear side of the ring and the blade projects from the front side of the ring. 

1. A tool of the class described comprising a ring shaped body having front and rear sides and an opening therethrough to receive a cable, jaws projecting from one side of said ring and extending radially relative to said opening to engage the outer surface of a cable therein, means securing certain of said jaws in predetermined fixed positions relative to said opening, means securing another of said jaws in adjusted position relative to said opening, and a blade projecting from and adjustably attached to one side of said ring and projecting into engagement with covering material on a cable in said opening.
 1. A tool of the class described comprising a ring shaped body having front and rear sides and an opening therethrough to receive a cable, jaws projecting from one side of said ring and extending radially relative to said opening to engage the outer surface of a cable therein, means securing certain of said jaws in predetermined fixed positions relative to said opening, means securing another of said jaws in adjusted position relative to said opening, and a blade projecting from and adjustably attached to one side of said ring and projecting into engagement with covering material on a cable in said opening.
 2. The combination of elements set forth in claim 1 in which the jaws carry rollers near their inner ends to engage a cable in said opening.
 3. The combination of elements set forth in claim 1 in which the ring is provided with a housing and a jaw is mounted therein for advancement into and retraction from engagement with a cable in said opening.
 4. The combination of elements set forth in claim 1 in which the ring has a recess extending radially of the opening and having a bottom surface inclined at an included angle of not more than about 3* to the front face of the ring and a cutting blade is disposed in said recess with its bottom surface resting on the inclined surface of the recess and with its cutting edge being substantially normal to said face of the ring.
 5. The combination of elements set forth in claim 1 in which the ring has two radially extending recesses with the bottom walls thereof being inclined, respectively, at included angles of about 1* and about 3* to the front face of the ring and cutting blades disposed in the recesses with their bottom surfaces engaging said inclined bottom surfaces of said recesses and with their cutting edges being substantially normal to said face of the ring. 